Retail chain puts topical CBD offerings on shelves in more than 1,100 Kentucky and Tennessee locations.

 

Dollar General will enter the new year and new decade among the ranks of CBD retailers. The company carries approximately 20 CBD product SKUs in approximately 1,100 stores in Tennessee and Kentucky. The company also plans to expand the products’ availability to seven more states – Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont – by spring 2020.

“At Dollar General, the customer is at the center of all we do, and the addition of CBD items is an extension of our ongoing commitment to provide customers with a curated and affordable assortment of the products they seek,” said Jason Reiser, Dollar General’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. “As with many of the products we carry in our stores, our decision to offer CBD products is based on customer interests or demands.”

CBD is often used to treat chronic pain, epilepsy symptoms in children, insomnia, anxiety and sports injuries, according to Harvard Health Publishing. A 2017 World Health Organization report stated, “… there is no evidence of public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.”

Dollar General’s CBD assortment is limited to topical cosmetic products including creams, ointments, bath bombs, bath salts and face masks. The company does not have current plans to provide ingestible or edible CBD merchandise.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that it is illegal to put into interstate commerce any food to which CBD has been added or to market CBD as a dietary supplement.

All 50 states have laws legalizing CBD with various restrictions. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized the production of hemp in the U.S., but only varieties of cannabis and its derivatives with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels of 0.3% or less. THC is the ingredient in marijuana that causes psychotropic affects.

Other stores that sell CBD products include CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Ulta Beauty, Urban Outfitters, Whole Foods and others.

Dollar General is based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., and operates more than 16,000 stores in 44 U.S. states.